Days 10-13. To Monson, ME

Holy cow, I've been so tired at the end of all the days that I haven't been able to journal about them!  I have a few good stories stuck in my head from the rest of the way through the wilderness though :)

Chairback mountain was a really cool climb- it was really frightening to look at before I started my ascent.  Faith yelled out to me to just pay close attention and move slowly, so that's what I did and I made it up the mountain with no problems.

Chairback mountain.  The huge boulders are the trail.  Oh Maine....

Right after Chairback mountain is a lean-to called Chairback Gap that I stayed at for the night.  This is when I got to meet Mosey!  Right off the bat he was cracking me up- I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life!  The humors of Faith and Mosey put together can keep me laughing for hours on end.  I'm getting a good dose of laugh therapy out here :).  I gave Mosey a big hug for saving my life by leaving the food.  Mosey had never hiked before either, so it was nice to be able to chat about how crazy this is!  I also met G-unit today while eating lunch after fording a river.  She's blasting through the miles, even with a hurt knee.  I don't know how she does it!  Best of luck to her!
The next day we decided to take an easy 6.9 mile day to Cloud Pond Lean-to that turned out to not be so easy.  I arrived at Cloud Pond that evening pretty exhausted, but this lean-to may very well have had one of the most beautiful sceneries on the trail.  I went for a nice swim and then we all cooked dinner together and ate on the edge of the pond.

Cloud Pond

The rest of the hike was filled with excitement due to how close we were getting to Monson.  From Cloud Pond it was 2 more days until we would be sleeping in an air conditioned room, showered and clean, with all the food we could dream of being available!
 Haha I had another clumsy moment on the trail:  I was climbing up over a root and right as I was swinging my back foot forward to take another step, it got snagged on a root.  My balance was completely thrown off and I started to fall forward.  I was able to stick my trekking poles out in front of myself to keep myself from hitting the ground hard, but I couldn't do much more than that since my wrists were looped through my poles.  So, here I am leaning at a pretty good angle forward with no way to get back up.  I had no other choice but to let myself fall without having my hands to catch me, but the few seconds before I let go were filled with so much hesitation because I knew I'd just fall flat on my face!  Haha, when I did let myself fall I found it to be so hilarious that I just laid on the trail for a couple of seconds and laughed.  It's such a strange feeling to know that you're about to fall on your face and there's nothing you can do about it, you just have to let it happen. 
The last day out of the wilderness started pretty casually- I wasn't wanting to get too amped up and rush out of the wilderness.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to be back in the wilderness for a very long time, if ever again in my lifetime.  I used the day to enjoy the scenery just as much as the days before, but once I hit the 3 miles to Monson mark it was like I got super powers!  I ate a Snickers bar (a hiker's secret weapon) and just blasted off towards the end of the wilderness, practically sprinting down the trail.  I have never moved so fast!  Haha.  The emotions I felt once I arrived at the terminus of the 100 mile wilderness were so happy!  I was there with Banana and Peel (an awesome couple I'd been hiking with for a few days) and we all started dancing around and celebrating together.

End of 100 mile wilderness!  Read the sign!

From the edge of the highway, I called the Lakeshore House in Monson and they sent someone over to pick Mosey and me up.  I survived the 100 mile wilderness!!!!  Wooooohoooooooooooo!

Song:  "The Fighter" by Gym Class Heroes